Ryan Dadoun

In The Crease

First Half Studs and Duds

Sometimes a change of scenery can make all the difference, especially when it comes with a juicy opportunity. When Campbell signed with Chicago, he was charged with quarterbacking their power play, but injuries and the rise of other talented offensive defensemen like Duncan Keith pushed Campbell down in the depth charts. In that time the GM that originally signed him, Dale Tallon, had moved from Chicago to Florida and he was more than willing to acquire Campbell and give him ample power-play ice time with the Panthers. Campbell ranks third among NHL blueliners with an average of 4:35 power-play minutes per contest and he’s rewarded Florida with 31 points in 39 games, including 19 scored with the man advantage.

After two lackluster years with Chicago, Campbell’s stock had dropped considerably in fantasy circles, so much so that even the trade to Florida wasn’t enough for him to put him on most players list of top offensive defensemen. As a result, the man who got 62 points in 2007-08 was available in the 15th round of most drafts. That’s quite the bargain, considering ranks second among NHL defenseman in points.

The fact that Green had just 24 points in 49 games last season didn’t scare off fantasy owners come draft day. He was still, on average, the first defenseman to go in fantasy leagues with the 30th pick overall. Green has been nothing but a headache for fantasy owners this season as groin and ankle problems have limited him to just eight games. The silver lining is that he might return to the Capitals’ lineup this week, so fantasy owners might get some measure of compensation for their patience.

Beyond Green, Drew Doughty deserves a dishonorable mention. Maybe the fact that he skipped training camp as a contract holdout is taking its toll, maybe he’s a victim of the Kings’ anemic offense, maybe he’s struggling to adjust and recapture his sophomore success, but whatever the reason, he has been a huge fantasy disappointment. If I had disqualified players who suffered a significant injury, Doughty would have beaten out Green.

Doughty is tied for 43rd place among defensemen in points with 15 in 34 games, which isn’t much return considering that he was typically selected early in the fourth round. Only Green and Shea Weber – who was doing great before joining the growing list of star players to have suffered a concussion – were typically selected ahead of him. However, like Green, there’s some light at the end of the tunnel for Doughty owners. Doughty enjoyed a five-game point streak from December 19th to 28th and we wouldn’t be surprised if he has a strong second half.

Goaltenders tend to be taken early, which isn’t surprising given their significance, so although Howard was typically gone by the start of round five, there were usually over 10 goaltenders selected before him. Howard endured a bit of a sophomore slump last season, but he’s put himself in the discussion for Vezina Trophy finalists with a 23-9-1 record, 1.93 GAA, and .929 save percentage. He’s been very consistent this season, with his monthly GAAs ranging from 1.82 to 2.01 to go along with a .929, .930, and .928 save percentage in each of his first three months. He’s also been a workhorse, starting in 33 of 38 games.

Brian Elliott also deserves recognition for what he’s done. He wasn’t even picked in 97% of fantasy drafts and yet he has 14 wins, a 1.70 GAA, and a .938 save percentage. Ultimately we chose Howard because he’s started in 14 more games and has consequently had a much bigger impact on fantasy teams. Although it didn’t directly factor into my decision, it’s worth noting that Howard and Elliott faced each other twice last week, with Howard and the Red Wings winning both duels.

After a disappointing playoff run last season, the Flyers decided they needed to undergo some major changes and the centerpiece of Philadelphia’s off-season moves was Bryzgalov, who signed a nine-year/$51 million contract. Hopefully the next eight and a half seasons go better than the first half, because so far Bryzgalov has not played as advertised. He’s been solid for stretches of this season, but he’s also been woefully inconsistent.

You never know what you’re going to get when you start Bryzgalov and while that’s frustrating to Flyers fans, fantasy owners who typically took Bryzgalov with the 18th overall pick are also feeling the pain. Only Henrik Lundqvist and Roberto Luongo were typically taken higher and while all three have putting up similar numbers in the wins column, Bryzgalov’s 3.01 GAA and .890 save percentage stick out like sore thumbs.

Lupul and Nugent-Hopkins are both great choices for this category, considering how well they’ve done, combined with the fact that they were often free agents at the end of a fantasy draft. If you had the foresight to pick up both of these guys after your draft, then you should take a bow. Ultimately I went with Lupul for the obvious reasons: he beats Nugent-Hopkins in most major categories (goals, assists, plus/minus, and PIM), and he was selected in fewer leagues.

If you picked Crosby or Green, odds are you’ve had to work hard to recover from the blow, but bad goaltending is tough to overcome. Goaltenders have a more direct affect on their fantasy categories than any forward or defenseman, simply because there are typically much less of them on your roster. Beyond that, Bryzgalov was typically picked before Crosby or Green in most fantasy drafts.

2011 is behind us and nearly half of this season’s games are in the books. This seems like a good time to reflect on what’s happened so far and recognize some of this season’s best players. That being said, I’m going to do things a little differently. Rather than simply highlight the players that excelled from a fantasy perspective, I’m going to focus on those who has given you the most or least bang for your buck. In other words, who have been the most valuable fantasy players based on where you could get them in a standard draft in the preseason and who have caused their owners nothing but pain. I’ll be using Yahoo!’s draft statistics to determine each players average placement as well as the percentage of drafts that they were selected in.

It’s rare that the best player in a category is also the best bargain and it’s equally unusual for a first overall pick to exceed expectations, but there’s a simple reason Nugent-Hopkins is an exception to both rules. Unlike most first overall picks, the bar was set awfully low for him as far as his debut campaign was concerned. Before the season began, there was some speculation as to whether or not Nugent-Hopkins would even stick with the Oilers beyond the nine-game trial period. Consequently, those interested in Nugent-Hopkins waited until approimately pick 148 to get him in standard leagues, and he went undrafted in 85% of drafts.

Those that drafted him late or picked him up as a free agent have gotten 13 goals, 22 assists, and 18 power-play points out of Nugent-Hopkins in his first 37 career NHL games. Going forward, he should continue to excel, though not quite at that pace. He had two goals and eight points in 12 December games and we are looking for him to mimic that point-per-game pace overall in the second half of the season.

It’s a stretch to call anyone in this year’s rookie pool a true disappointment from a fantasy perspective. For the most part, fantasy owners were cautious when selecting rookies from this year’s pool in drafts. In fact, while Nugent-Hopkins was rarely claimed by the conclusion of the draft, he was one of the most selected Calder-eligible players. Ellis was only claimed in 4% of league drafts and even then he usually wasn’t taken until the 14th round in a 12-team league.

All the same, he was one of the most sought after rookies before the season started. He was selected in more drafts than standouts like Adam Henrique, Craig Smith, and fellow rookie blueliners Raphael Diaz and Adam Larsson. However, Ellis hasn’t been a factor in fantasy leagues this season. He’s only played in three games with Nashville and has yet to record his first NHL point.

Does that make this a bad season for Ellis? No. He’s got tremendous offensive potential and he’s put up encouraging numbers at the AHL level. He was never expected to be a major part of the 2011-12 Nashville Predators, due in no small part to the team’s depth when it comes to offensively gifted defenseman. He’s a great guy to hold onto in keeper leagues, but you jumped the gun if you took him in a single season pool.

There were a number of really great candidates for this category, including James Neal and Kris Versteeg. What made me go with Lupul is the fact that he was only taken in 11% of Yahoo! drafts, compared to 36% for Versteeg and the vast majority of drafts for Neal.

Toronto has been slipping out of the playoff picture lately, but the single biggest reason they’re even competing this season has been the strength of their top line. Phil Kessel and Lupul have been great together and both should end up setting new career-highs. Lupul already has 17 goals and 40 points in 38 games, which is nine more points than he recorded in 54 contests during the 2010-11 campaign. Perhaps the most impressive stat when it comes to Lupul is that he has yet to go pointless in back-to-back contests this season.

Lupul might slow down a bit as the season progresses, but he’s not likely to collapse. A 70-80 point campaign isn’t an unrealistic expectation for him at this point.

I was very tempted to make injured players exempt from this category, but injuries are a big part of the sport and can break a team. More than that, people knew about Crosby’s health concerns going into the season, so if they took him early, they did so with eyes wide open. In fact, the allure of a healthy Crosby compelled most fantasy owners to take Crosby early in the third round. That would have looked like a steal under normal circumstances, but it was a huge gamble going into this draft and one that hurt a lot of fantasy owners.

If you took Crosby, you’ve more or less wasted a high round pick. He’s been limited to eight games this season – albeit eight stunning games that makes his current absence sting even more for hockey fans. Although information on Crosby’s status has been scarce at times, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma reported on December 28th that he’s still dealing with symptoms. At the time of writing, he hasn’t practiced with the Penguins in almost a month. Maybe he’ll come back before the end of the regular season, but even that isn’t a sure thing.

Sometimes a change of scenery can make all the difference, especially when it comes with a juicy opportunity. When Campbell signed with Chicago, he was charged with quarterbacking their power play, but injuries and the rise of other talented offensive defensemen like Duncan Keith pushed Campbell down in the depth charts. In that time the GM that originally signed him, Dale Tallon, had moved from Chicago to Florida and he was more than willing to acquire Campbell and give him ample power-play ice time with the Panthers. Campbell ranks third among NHL blueliners with an average of 4:35 power-play minutes per contest and he’s rewarded Florida with 31 points in 39 games, including 19 scored with the man advantage.

After two lackluster years with Chicago, Campbell’s stock had dropped considerably in fantasy circles, so much so that even the trade to Florida wasn’t enough for him to put him on most players list of top offensive defensemen. As a result, the man who got 62 points in 2007-08 was available in the 15th round of most drafts. That’s quite the bargain, considering ranks second among NHL defenseman in points.

The fact that Green had just 24 points in 49 games last season didn’t scare off fantasy owners come draft day. He was still, on average, the first defenseman to go in fantasy leagues with the 30th pick overall. Green has been nothing but a headache for fantasy owners this season as groin and ankle problems have limited him to just eight games. The silver lining is that he might return to the Capitals’ lineup this week, so fantasy owners might get some measure of compensation for their patience.

Beyond Green, Drew Doughty deserves a dishonorable mention. Maybe the fact that he skipped training camp as a contract holdout is taking its toll, maybe he’s a victim of the Kings’ anemic offense, maybe he’s struggling to adjust and recapture his sophomore success, but whatever the reason, he has been a huge fantasy disappointment. If I had disqualified players who suffered a significant injury, Doughty would have beaten out Green.

Doughty is tied for 43rd place among defensemen in points with 15 in 34 games, which isn’t much return considering that he was typically selected early in the fourth round. Only Green and Shea Weber – who was doing great before joining the growing list of star players to have suffered a concussion – were typically selected ahead of him. However, like Green, there’s some light at the end of the tunnel for Doughty owners. Doughty enjoyed a five-game point streak from December 19th to 28th and we wouldn’t be surprised if he has a strong second half.

Goaltenders tend to be taken early, which isn’t surprising given their significance, so although Howard was typically gone by the start of round five, there were usually over 10 goaltenders selected before him. Howard endured a bit of a sophomore slump last season, but he’s put himself in the discussion for Vezina Trophy finalists with a 23-9-1 record, 1.93 GAA, and .929 save percentage. He’s been very consistent this season, with his monthly GAAs ranging from 1.82 to 2.01 to go along with a .929, .930, and .928 save percentage in each of his first three months. He’s also been a workhorse, starting in 33 of 38 games.

Brian Elliott also deserves recognition for what he’s done. He wasn’t even picked in 97% of fantasy drafts and yet he has 14 wins, a 1.70 GAA, and a .938 save percentage. Ultimately we chose Howard because he’s started in 14 more games and has consequently had a much bigger impact on fantasy teams. Although it didn’t directly factor into my decision, it’s worth noting that Howard and Elliott faced each other twice last week, with Howard and the Red Wings winning both duels.

After a disappointing playoff run last season, the Flyers decided they needed to undergo some major changes and the centerpiece of Philadelphia’s off-season moves was Bryzgalov, who signed a nine-year/$51 million contract. Hopefully the next eight and a half seasons go better than the first half, because so far Bryzgalov has not played as advertised. He’s been solid for stretches of this season, but he’s also been woefully inconsistent.

You never know what you’re going to get when you start Bryzgalov and while that’s frustrating to Flyers fans, fantasy owners who typically took Bryzgalov with the 18th overall pick are also feeling the pain. Only Henrik Lundqvist and Roberto Luongo were typically taken higher and while all three have putting up similar numbers in the wins column, Bryzgalov’s 3.01 GAA and .890 save percentage stick out like sore thumbs.

Lupul and Nugent-Hopkins are both great choices for this category, considering how well they’ve done, combined with the fact that they were often free agents at the end of a fantasy draft. If you had the foresight to pick up both of these guys after your draft, then you should take a bow. Ultimately I went with Lupul for the obvious reasons: he beats Nugent-Hopkins in most major categories (goals, assists, plus/minus, and PIM), and he was selected in fewer leagues.

If you picked Crosby or Green, odds are you’ve had to work hard to recover from the blow, but bad goaltending is tough to overcome. Goaltenders have a more direct affect on their fantasy categories than any forward or defenseman, simply because there are typically much less of them on your roster. Beyond that, Bryzgalov was typically picked before Crosby or Green in most fantasy drafts.